Manufacturing and Agriculture

Accounting for about one-third of all end-use energy in the United States, the industrial sector consumes more energy than any other sector. While industrial energy efficiency has increased steadily over the past three decades, there are still tremendous opportunities for energy savings, as well as the potential to instill the tenets of energy efficiency in a sector that employs and influences millions of people. The industrial sector, working constantly to increase shareholder value and reduce expenses, has found energy efficiency investments to be an attractive avenue to achieve those ends. As climate change awareness and mitigation strategies increase, it is likely that industry will increasingly prioritize energy efficiency as a critical solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

  • In spite of perceptions that U.S. manufacturing has been in rapid decline, manufacturing continues to represent a vital component of the United States economy, accounting for about 14 percent of...
  • The industrial sector offers tremendous opportunity for low-cost energy savings from utility energy efficiency programs. ACEEE created a collection of four tools to communicate the value of ratepayer...
  • Broadly speaking, energy management is any systematic tracking and planning of energy use and can be applied to equipment, buildings, industrial processes, industrial or institutional facilities, or...
  • Several United States industries, including glass, steel, metal casting, pulp and paper, aluminum, and chemicals, employ highly energy-intensive processes and are highly exposed to global...
  • For over 30 years, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) program has provided small and medium-sized manufacturing firms with the technical assistance necessary to make...
  • DOE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO; formerly called the Industrial Technologies Program, or ITP) represents one of the only remaining federal programs focused on meeting the technology and...
  • Workforce has emerged as a vital issue in the successful implementation of energy efficiency throughout all sectors. It is a critical issue for implementation of energy efficiency in...
  • Combined heat and power (CHP) systems, also known as cogeneration, generate electricity and useful thermal energy in a single, integrated system. CHP is not a technology, but an approach to applying...
  • Electric motors convert electric power to useful mechanical energy and consume more electricity than any other end use in the United States.  The popularity of motors attests to their effectiveness...
  • Pulling emerging technologies from the R&D stage into the market is a critical step for reducing energy consumption while maintaining economic growth well into the future.  In light of this...
  • Distributed generation, also called on-site generation or decentralized generation, is the term for generation of electricity from sources that are near the point of consumption, as opposed to...
  • Information and communication technologies (ICT) have transformed our economy and our lives, and have revolutionized the relationship between economic production and energy consumption.  From...
  • A broad range of fuel cell technologies is being developed for stationary applications. The potential for widespread adoption in the transportation sector rests on the great promise that polymer...
  • Increasing efficiency in the agricultural sector and in rural communities can improve the financial situation of farms and communities, ease the burden on the electricity grid, and decrease...
  • Municipal water supply and wastewater treatment (W&WW) systems are among the most energy-intensive facilities owned and are operated by local governments, accounting for about 35% of energy...

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